A photo album of a virtual life

Strawberry Singh

I was very happy to see that Strawberry Singh started her memes back a few weeks ago. Before her hiatus, I participated regularly; but this is the first one I have managed to do in recent times. No matter how busy I have been in real life, the Second Life Movie Poster Challenge from 2013 was one of my very favourites, and I wasn’t about to miss out this time!

For those of you who want to participate, here are the instructions:

Meme instructions: Create a movie poster for your Second Life Avatar or SLife. You can base it off an original movie poster or think of a completely new idea of your own! Please be careful of copyright issues and try not to use copyrighted elements in your work. Remember to share a link to your poster in the comments (of Berry’s post) and the Blog Memes Flickr Group. You don’t have to have a blog to do this challenge, you can share your image on any social platform you prefer.

In keeping with my original meme, I decided to play on my name. After wracking my brain for movies with “sleep” in the title, I settled on Sleeping Beauty. Thankfully, with the different eye positions available with my CATWA head, it was relatively easy to create a photo with one eye closed and one eye open. And like the last time, I found myself giggling as I created this poster.

Do please pop over to Berry’s blog to see all of the entries. There are details there on Glasz DeCuir’s upcoming exhibition of Second Life movie posters, as well.

Now I just have to wait for that prince to show up so I can fully awaken. I just hope my hundred-year morning breathe doesn’t kill him!

I’m running late to do Strawberry Singh’s latest Monday Meme, but I couldn’t pass this one up! I actually snorted reading her blog and seeing other memes on Flickr and Facebook. Something tells me that this isn’t going to just stop at a blog challenge for a lot of people; I can envision tee shirts and decorative items (perhaps even in counted cross-stitch) with these little gems plastered all over them. I have actually spent the last two days during my commute to and from work coming up with quite a lot of different possibilities!

I ended up actually combining two separate #SecondLifeProblems I have personally encountered to include in my entry. You’ve seen part one at the top of my post (true story). But here is the rest of that story…and probably one you have encountered, too.

Yep, it disappeared 😦 Only in Second Life!

I was rushed to get these photos and post done tonight, but this is a long weekend coming up for me, so I may try to do a few more and post to my Flickr page. I must say that thinking about all of those #SecondLifeProblems made my trips home much more entertaining 🙂

If you want to participate, here are the rules:

Meme Instructions: Create a #SecondLifeProblems meme image. It can be an image of any avatar doing anything in Second Life. Write a Second Life Problem over the image and share your meme on your blog or any social network with the hashtag #SecondLifeProblems. Don’t forget to share the link to your post in the comments (of this post) and add your pictures to the Blog Memes flickr group.

If nothing else, go visit the Blog Memes Flickr group. I think I have carpal tunnel syndrome from hitting the Like star so much!

Here she goes again; Ms Berry loves to get us to bare our souls. Sometimes it is a bit daunting to share what might be personal information. It can be a bit uncomfortable, but I have come to see this as a challenge to confront my fears and open up a bit more than I would normally.

She has enlisted a mystery consultant to come up with a list of 20 questions to get us to open up. Some were easy, some were a bit more tricky but all were thought-provoking.

Here is what she has asked us to do:

Meme instructions: Answer the following 20 personal questions about your Second Life. Don’t forget to share a link to your post in the comments (of this post)!

I’m just going to look into my crystal ball and see what I can discover…

1. When and how did you discover Second Life? – My ex-husband introduced me to Second Life back in 2007, I think. I’m not too sure about the year and I didn’t join until late in 2008 but he had a couple of avatars and showed me a bit of SL.

2. Did you know about virtual worlds before or was this your first experience with them? – Yes, I came to Second Life after being in another virtual world for a couple of years.

3. Has Second Life met your expectations? – When I first joined Second Life I’m not sure what expectations I had. It was a way to socialise and have a bit of fun. The developments over the past five plus years are beyond what I ever imagined, so I guess they have exceeded my expectations.

4. If you could teleport back to the first ten minutes of your avatar’s slife, what would you tell yourself? – Read ALL of the information so you can get off this bloody island! It took me several attempts over a period of about three months to be able to get out into the world. Thankfully, a friend had joined and tp’d me away or I might never have started my Second Life journey.

5. How long did it take you to master avatar flying and driving vehicles inworld? – I didn’t do too badly with flying, although I didn’t realise I could use the Page Down button to gracefully land for a couple of years, so I always came crashing down to land. Driving vehicles? Is it even possible to master THAT?

6. Do you have a mystery alt? – Maaayyyyyybeeee 😛 lol I have a couple of alts that I don’t publicise and are actually rather dusty, but there are people in world who know they are me.

7. Is your SL avatar a reflection of you, or someone you wished you could be? – Peep is definitely who I would like to be. Her personality is me, but her look and fashion sense are totally different.

8. Is there an individual you met in SL that inspired you in your RL? How? – More than one. That’s all I’m going to say about that.

9. Do you feel it is easier to create stronger bonds/relationships with people you meet inworld as opposed to the real world? – In some ways it is easier to connect with someone in a virtual space since you don’t have the physical attraction factor involved. I met my ex-husband online (although not in Second Life) so I know that those strong bonds are possible. He told me on numerous occasions after we met that if we had been at a dinner party or club he probably wouldn’t have given me a second look. Yet because we had connected on an emotional level before meeting physically we had a base to work from and build our relationship.

10. Did you ever imagine or believe people could fall in love with someone they never met before Second Life? – Considering my previous answer, of course I do.

11. How has your perspective of dating changed (or not) since you started playing second life? – In Second Life, an actual date is less stressful. It is easier to dress and experience anything you want. You can have a quiet, private date or go clubbing, horseback riding, climb the Eiffel Tower, fly an airplane, sail the Blake Sea…the possibilities are endless. In real life there are so many restraints for the average person. But cuddling an avatar and worrying about adjusting poseballs so that arms aren’t poking through chests (and other things poking where they don’t belong 😉 ) are definite drawbacks to dating in Second Life.

12. How has your perspective of employment changed (or not) since you started playing second life? – I can’t say that it has. I’ve always worked in Second Life but never made a living at it. I admire those people with the talent to do so.

13. Name three things in both your lives that overlap each other significantly. – Friends, music and always wishing I could be a bit better at whatever I do.

14. If you could live your life more immersively in a virtual world, would you? (Kind of like the Matrix) – If it meant I lived on an island, got to buy most things I want and share what I do with others as I do on this blog I would be all for it.

15. How do you think behavior changes for people if they’re inworld vs in real world? Why do you think that is? – While the first inclination might be that people can bully from behind the keyboard I think the real and important difference is that it allows quiet, shy people to blossom. There is nothing more satisfying than seeing the wallflower open up and become the charming, engaging belle that was just looking for the opportunity to shine.

16. How has second life consumerism changed your perception of spending habits, the value of money, the need to be “bleeding edge” with fashion? – I am not a huge consumer in real life. I am not a clothes horse or a shoe collector. My one weakness is electronics, but even then I am usually a step or two behind the current “best.” I think Second Life has allowed me to be cutting edge without breaking the Real Life bank. I have always been a bit of a bargain shopper in Real Life and that has carried over into SL. That is why I love shopping events so much (like Serafilms); I can keep current without having to pinch a penny until it screams.

17. Do you think virtual worlds like SL drive and redefine human interaction or do they narrow and limit it? – If it weren’t for virtuality, I would surely still be living in the US and would probably never have had relationships (romantic or friendly) with anyone from overseas. I have met more than one person I have met online and even moved to Australia because of the the relationships I developed online. These weren’t through Second Life directly, but it is just one such vehicle for expanding my experience of the wonderful people all over the world.

18. If technology progressed tomorrow to allow you to send emotions to people the way you’d send text or voice messages, would it enrich your SL experience or infringe on it? – I think that emotion can be expressed through words, through pictures and through music. However, if I had the ability to share my happiness, my joy, even my frustration and fears directly it would definitely enhance the experience. Or maybe it would just be too scary…I can be fierce when I get angry and even more fierce when I love.

19. Name three skills you attribute to having learned or honed in second life alone. – Photoshop, photography and being social.

20. If your grand kids googled your Second Life Avatar’s name, would they be intrigued, disgusted, proud or something else? – I would hope they would be intrigued and proud, but they would probably be a bit shocked that Nana could be so cool 😉

I don’t think I divined anything earth-shattering or shocking. I hope it wasn’t boring. But I do think I gave a bit more of a glimpse of the woman behind the blog.

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